Brother
by Paige Jennings
Summary: In attempt to get Loki back and remind Thor why he once loved his brother, Frigga turns Loki into a child again and sends him to Midgard to the Stark Tower, where Thor and the other Avengers have to take care of him. How will they do and will all this really get Thor his brother back how he once was? Set between The Avengers and Thor TDW.
1. Chapter 1

**Brother**

**Chapter 1**

The sound of the queen's footsteps was the only sound echoing from the dungeon walls, as she walked down the stairs to the cells. She appeared very determined when she coldly ordered the guards to leave, yet her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

She waited until the guards had retired, before she took the keys from a hook in the wall beside the stairs and paced through the corridor. This part of the dungeon was meant only for the "special" prisoners. The cells were bigger and more comfortable and the inmates were considered either more important or more dangerous, than the others, sometimes both.

All cells in this part of the dungeons were empty, except for the one at the end of the line. It was Loki's.

Frigga took a deep breath, as if to assure herself, that she was doing the right thing. But of course she was! She would not stand by and watch, while her son rotted in a prison cell and lose what little there was left of him to the darkness. She had a plan, one last chance to redeem her son and she would take it.

Loki lay on his bed and read. He looked up startled, when he caught sight of his mother and rose, throwing the book he had just read carelessly aside.

"Mother!"

Frigga said nothing and Loki watched in utter confusion, how she unlocked the door to his cell and stepped in.

"What are you doing here," he asked a little baffled.

She did not reply, instead she took one of his hands in hers and squeezed it slightly.

"What is going on mother?"

"I'm here to help you."

Loki stared at her in disbelief. "You cannot be serious. Odin will be furious!"

Frigga merely smiled. "Don't worry about your father. I can handle him."

"He is _not_ my father," Loki hissed.

Frigga did not argue. She was tired of arguing about such things and she did not have the time to. Instead she cupped his cheek with her hands and smiled. She felt warmth rise in her chest and spread through her body, reaching her palms.

"What's going on," Loki exclaimed bewildered, as a white light began to gleam from them and got brighter and brighter.

Frigga embraced him. "Don't ever forget that I love you," she whispered into his ear and closed her eyes, before the light got too bright to bear. For a brief moment it filled the whole cell, before it weakened and when she opened her eyes again, Loki was gone.

* * *

Thor sat on his bed in the Stark mansion and he was lost in his thoughts. He had come to earth to see his friends and rally from the strenuous days in Asgard and forget his worries for a while. He spent his evenings with Steve and Toni, talking about how they came along and how things went at S.H.I.E.L.D. Even Bruce Banner had planned to come for a visit, since he had heard that Thor was back in Midgard. He even felt, that he slowly started to understand the midgardian traditions, but sometimes- like now -he felt like all his worries and compunctions had followed him down to Midgard.

Loki still sat in his cell in Asgard. Thor had never visited him there. Odin had forbidden any visitors for Loki, except Frigga. He knew he couldn't keep her off anyway, but that was not what held Thor back.

The truth was that he could not bear to face him.

Thor stared down at his hands, as he felt this familiar storm of emotions brew inside him. They were trembling.

He closed his eyes as if in pain and clenched his hands to fist, when he felt numerous emotions befall his mind like a sudden tempest. Anger, disappointment, desperation, betrayal, guilt, despair. Sometimes they hit him with such force, that he felt like he would break.

Thor had told himself over and over again, that Loki was no longer his brother. He had let go of the thought to make both Loki's betrayal and his own disappointment bearable and he hated himself for it, but another part of him clung onto the thought desperately. All the things they had been through together, the memories they shared; they could not only be a lie, they had to be more than the faint shadow of the past.

Thor sighed. How could all this have happened? How could he not have seen this coming? He had been so blind and careless in his pride that he hadn't seen the state Loki was in. He should have done something. But what? Thor had tried to understand what was going on in Loki's mind many times, but he couldn't figure it out. It was like a labyrinth to him. A labyrinth locked behind a door and he couldn't even seem to find the key. The mind was Loki's territory, his was the battlefield.

There was nothing he could do. Loki had gone lost in his own head. And yet sitting around, knowing he had lost his brother pained Thor nearly as much as, as holding on to old memories.

He let out a desperate groan and rubbed his face with his hands in helpless anger. But before Thor could think any farther, a dazzling white light suddenly illuminated his room, so bright, that he had to close his eyes and cover them with his hands. The light weakened and it was gone as suddenly as it had come.

Thor opened his eyes and looked around the room. There, in the centre of the room lay a small heap, covered in an emerald cloak. Was it a human?!

Thor rose slowly from his bed to get a closer look at the small figure and his heart skiped a beat. Was that-? No it couldn't be! That was simply impossible!

_**And? How did you like the first chapter? I hope you enjoyed it. **_

_**My apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes**_


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2**

It was a boy, no older than six or seven, curled up in the emerald cloak and fast asleep. Only a patch of black hair looked out from underneath the cloak. Thor felt his heart hammer in his chest. He felt his moth go dry, when he crouched down beside the little boy to look into his face and his heart made a funny jerk.

_Loki_

For several heartbeats Thor remained completely motionless, staring at his face and watching the even rise and fall of his chest. This couldn't be. It was impossible. Instinctively he reached out and brushed a few strands of hair from his face.

"Thor?"

The thunder god jumped at the sound of his name. Natasha stood in the doorway and watched him curiously. "Are you okay?"

Thor just looked at her. "Get the others."

* * *

Heimdall was already expecting the queen, when she came to him at the Bifrost.

"My Queen" He bowed his head respectfully. "It is an honour to see you here."

"Good evening, Heimdall," she replied, not unfriendly. "I believe you know why I am here."

The gatekeeper did not negate it, for he would not insult the queen by feigning ignorance.

"The guards will soon find that my son is gone."

Heimdall said nothing.

"Can you see him," Frigga asked after a moment, standing beside him and staring out into the vastness of the universe.

"Yes."

"My husband will come to you for information."

"Yes," Heimdall repeated.

"Will you tell him," Frigga asked.

"I have sworn an oath to him."

"Of course you have."

Heimdall's gaze remained directed forward, watching the things, invisible for the eyes of the most. "Odin will come to demand information about a man," he said slowly. "All I can see is a boy."

Frigga smiled faintly to herself. "Thank you Heimdall," she said and turned to leave his golden guard post, her steps echoing from the high golden walls.

The gatekeeper remained motionless. "I fear I do not know what you are speaking of my queen."

* * *

The others stared at the sleeping boy before them in disbelief.

"And you think this is Loki," Steve asked, his arms crossed before his chest and looked down at him.

"I do not _think_ it," Thor growled indignantly. "I am certain of it."

Steve raised his hand apologetically. "Of course you are. I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you."

"But how is that possible," Tony mused. "I thought he was safely imprisoned in Asgard."

Thor sighed heavily. "When I left Asgard he still was, but with Loki you can never be sure. Maybe this is one of his tricks."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Natasha said darkly.

"The question is; what do we do now?" Steve looked at them expectantly.

"I think it is best if I return to Asgard with him."

"Now?" Tony asked and looked at Thor. "Don't you at least want to wait until he wakes up and we know what's what?"

Thor shook his head sternly. "No. It is best if I go now. My father will know what to do."

The others watched how Thor carefully lifted his little brother's sleeping form the floor. He gave a small sigh when Thor took him up and nestled closer to his chest in his sleep. Thor carried him past them, the cautiousness of his actions not matching the sternness of his former words. They followed him up on the roof of the Stark Tower to bid him goodbye.

"I must go now my friends," Thor said. "But I will return as soon as I can." He stepped into the centre of the roof and looked up into the sky. "Heimdall open the Bifrost!"

Seconds went by and they waited for the bright beam of light, to bring Thor back to Asgard. Nothing happened.

"Heimdall," Thor repeated impatiently. "Open the Bifrost!"

Nothing.

Tony made an impressed face. "I must say, great job your famous gatekeeper is doing."

Thor glared up into the sky, ignoring Toni's teasing remark. "I don't understand. Asgard must be in trouble; otherwise Heimdall would open the Bifrost."

"Heimdall", he shouted one last time, without a reply.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "And what now?"

"Let's go inside," Steve suggested and glanced at Loki. "It's cold. He'll just get sick."

* * *

Inside, they lay Loki on the couch in the living room and covered him with a blanket. Steve even managed to gently pull the cloak from Loki's grasp without waking him. Now they all sat gathered around the table in the living room.

"So I really hate repeating myself," Tony said. "But what do we do now? And why couldn't goldilocks here return to Asgard?"

Thor shot him an evil glare, but replied anyway. "Asgard must be in danger. I see no other reason why Heimdall should refuse to open the Bifrost."

"Maybe they don't want you back yet," Tony suggested. Thor didn't laugh.

"But why," asked Natasha.

"Maybe they think Asgard is too small for his enormous ego."

She rolled her eyes at Tony. "Why should Asgard be in danger? Have you made any new enemies lately?"

Thor shook his head. "No, I suppose it has something to do with Loki," he said and glanced fleetingly at the slumbering boy behind him.

"Let's not jump to hasty conclusions here," Steve interjected. "We don't even know if Loki really has anything to do with this _or_ if Asgard even is in danger and since Thor can't go back to Asgard, all we _can_ do is wait, until Loki wakes up."

"And what do we tell Fury," Natasha asked accusingly.

"Nothing yet. Not until we know a little more."

"And what about Barton? He'll come back from a mission in Russia in a few days. What do we tell him?"

"Nothing," Steve replied calmly. "I think it's better, if we don't tell him anything yet."

Natasha didn't look pleased, but she did not argue.

Time dragged by slowly. They sat at the table and now and then someone said a few words, but really they waited. After some time Tony got bored and started throwing small pellets of paper at Steve, earning evil glares from the others.

From time to time Loki sighed and turned in his sleep. Every time he did, everyone froze and turned their faces towards the small, slumbering boy, but he didn't wake up.

"Miss Potts is back from Denver, sir. She is on her way up now," Jarvis suddenly announced after what might have been a few hours.

Tony looked up alarmed. "Pepper! I promised to pick her up from the airport! She's probably going to kill me!" Then his look fell on the sleeping Loki and he looked even more alarmed than before. "She's definitely going to kill me!"

"Tony", Pepper's angry voice came from the elevator. "You prom-" Her voice died away, when she came into the room and found four people staring at her from the table.

"What is it", she asked suspiciously. "Tony?" Only then saw the little boy wrapped into a blanket, sleeping on the couch.

"Is that… a _boy"_

Tony did his best to avoid her eye. "Er- um- It's uh-"

"Tony! Who is that?"

"It's Loki."

"What?"

"It's Loki," he repeated.

Pepper stared at him incredulous. "But what-? How-?"

Tony shrugged. "We have no idea. He appeared in Thor's room like that a few hours ago and that's it."

Pepper stared at Tony, then at Loki for several seconds, trying to work that information through, as Loki let out a long sleepy sigh and everyone turned their heads, staring fixedly at him as he turned and gave another muffled sigh. They rose and gathered around the sofa, watching as Loki stretched and slowly opened his eyes.

_**Review if you like and feel free to correct any of my grammar and spelling mistakes:)**_


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